Episode summary
Krilogy's John McArthur - charting an RIA's growth path by building out private markets capabilities
Alt Goes Mainstream
· · Hosts: Michael Sidgmore · Guests: John McArthur
Summary
John McArthur argues that private markets are becoming essential for wealth managers that want to differentiate, especially as clients ask for more customized solutions and as access expands beyond the traditional accredited-investor set. He says Krilogy, now just under $4 billion in AUM, has treated private markets as a core part of portfolio construction since 2012, but the firm’s latest move is to package that work into a more scalable private fund solution with Allocate.
A central theme is the tension between customization and scale. McArthur says Krilogy has grown carefully, keeping a bias toward organic growth and culture fit while adding businesses like tax and estate planning only when quality controls and people alignment are strong. He argues that private markets education is still the biggest bottleneck for advisors, because they need repeated training to explain complex strategies and use them in client conversations with confidence.
McArthur also thinks the market backdrop has changed: higher rates, more volatility, lower expected public-market returns, and more innovation happening in private companies. In that environment, he sees evergreen funds, secondaries, infrastructure, and selective venture as especially useful, while real estate looks like a contrarian opportunity. He expects model portfolios and broad evergreen solutions to make private markets easier to adopt across the wealth channel.
Key takeaways
- McArthur says Krilogy is just under $4 billion in AUM and is using private markets to build a more differentiated wealth platform.
- He believes lower expected public-market returns and higher volatility make private markets more important, not less, for long-term portfolios.
- McArthur says advisor education remains the main obstacle, because private markets require repeated training and a clear client narrative.
- He sees evergreen funds as the best starting point for wealth firms entering private markets, with drawdown funds and niche strategies added around the core.
- His favorite current opportunities are secondaries and emerging venture managers, while his contrarian idea is opportunistic real estate.
- He says Krilogy’s newest private fund is designed to combine big-name brands with smaller niche managers to widen diversification and improve access.
Notable quotes
“I think it's critical particularly where things are going”
“the education curve is is ambitious”
“I think the evolution of the evergreen fund structure has been tremendous”
“I think the secondaries market continues to be so interesting”
How the episode opens
Okay, we're good. Y this episode of the Alco Mainstream podcast is brought to you by Ultimus, a leading full-ervice fund administrator for asset managers in private and public markets. As private markets continue to move into the mainstream, the industry requires infrastructure solutions that help funds and investors keep pace.
Ultimus is a leading full-ervice fund administrator for asset managers in both private and public markets. Offering a wide range of capabilities across registered funds, private funds, and public plans, as well as outsourced middle office services. Delivering operational excellence, Ultimus helps firms manage the everchanging regulatory environment while meeting the needs of their institutional and retail investors.
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Welcome back to the Alco mainstream podcast. Today's episode digs into how the CIO of a growing multi-billion dollar wealth management firm thinks about customization and differentiation with private markets. We sat down with John MacArthur, CIO and senior partner at 3.6 6 billion AUM Trilogy.
Founded in 2009, Trilogy provides comprehensive financial planning and investment management services to highetwet worth individuals, families, and business owners.
From the episode’s captions: roughly the first two minutes, lightly cleaned. Keep watching on YouTube →
Topics
- private markets
- ria growth strategy
- customization vs scale
- evergreen funds
- wealth management evolution
Companies and tickers mentioned
- MS
- Krilogy
- A.G. Edwards & Sons
- Morgan Stanley Smith Barney
Watch the episode
Summary, takeaways and quote selection by Octagon. Quotes are short excerpts; the full conversation is in the episode.
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Alt Goes Mainstream, this episode and its artwork belong to Michael Sidgmore. Octagon is not affiliated with the show; this page is an independent summary.
